"Expert Networks" and Other Wall Street Euphemisms

Sweeping arrests are said to be coming across Wall Street investment firms, hedge funds and mutual funds for their use of so-called Expert Networks. For the uninitiated, this is the practice of putting industry executives or even ex-employees of a company on the payroll for “color” or “insight”.

In many cases, we’re just talking about a fancy way of saying cheating or trading on inside info.

Calling this type of arrangement an “expert network” is Classic Wall Street. Making up euphemisms for things they want to sell is what this industry has been built on.

The Street likes to create new terms for old things and add fees, then it proceeds to get high on its own supply of bullshit. How else to explain the big five investment banks choking on the Frankenstein CDO’s and CDO’s Squared that they themselves concocted?

That they’ve sold the world on their practice of hiring insiders by calling them “experts” should come as a surprise to no one.

Some reading on this burgeoning story below, try not to act too shocked.